


another night, another day

by singlemalter



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Angst, Japanese Grand Prix 2019, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 17:42:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21019691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singlemalter/pseuds/singlemalter
Summary: Should, should, should.





	another night, another day

There’s nothing that pisses him off more than late-night calls. He’s exhausted, rightfully angry, and about to sleep for twelve hours when his phone rings.

He strongly considers ignoring it, because anyone familiar enough to have his number _should_ know he’s in a shit mood, but the knot in his chest eases slightly once he sees the caller ID. Maybe he can make an exception, he reasons, rolling across the mattress to reach for the nightstand.

“Hello?” Max says, eager to settle into the warm lilt of Daniel’s accent, the silver lining in a horrible day.

Silence. Max’s heart sinks, and he’s about to hang up—then he hears a faint, breathy noise crackle through the speakers.

“Fuck,” someone hisses, barely perceptible. It can’t be Daniel: it’s too high-pitched, not playful enough. “Shit, _Daniel_, yes.”

Bile rises in Max’s throat as realisation washes over him, shamefully miserable. His naïveté had gotten the best of him yet again; it’s so pathetic that Max wonders how his dad would mock him for it, cruel words on a gaping wound.

The sounds grow clearer, Daniel’s voice finally audible through his heavy breaths, carrying all the pleasure Max’s wanted to witness for years but not this way, never this way.

“Jesus, Charles,” Daniel says, and it’s the last fucking straw. 

Sighing in resignation, Max looks at the screen, contemplating the stupid emoji Daniel had added to his own contact years ago. _This is ridiculous_, he tells himself, letting his thumb hover over the _End Call_ button.

He wants to do it. He can’t do it. Why won’t he just do it?

Instead of hanging up, Max closes his eyes and listens. Now that he knows who’s with Daniel, it’s glaringly obvious in retrospect. Sharing the jet back to Monaco, playfully flirting around the paddock, doing all the things _he_ used to do with Daniel—

“I need more, give me more,” Charles says wantonly, and Max almost feels he’s putting on a show, as if he knows Max is there. As if he’d planned everything.

He should have expected this. Should, should, should, it’s always should with Max; you should have driven safer, you should have stayed quiet instead of talking back to your father, you should have come out to your sister, you should have taken the inside line, you should have told him you were in love before he fucked off to Viry. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title from _Another Day_ by Human Tetris: _Love is so strong, love fades away; another night, another day. I don't see her anymore, I don't see him anymore, I don't see her anymore, I don't see them anymore._
> 
> Something something singlemalter Tumblr?


End file.
